A Life as a Stock by C. M. Fields

By C.M. Fields
February 20, 2013 07:54

Summary:

The era of communication in which we currently live, along with the speed of globalization, is quickly transforming our world. While we have no way of knowing where will these trends take us in twenty or thirty years, we can picture a not-too-distant future in which the impact of current decisions and events plays a major role in the lives of ordinary people. Young Rick McMahon has big dreams and is ready to take advantage of the opportunities of that world and of a global market integration called GeoOne. Unbeknownst to him, his world is about to become more exhilarating than he ever could have imagined. Lara Brown is a motivated, well-respected reporter, covering the important events happening around the world. She explains the workings of this globalized system, seeking to offer an intelligent and unbiased view. She suddenly finds herself explaining a financial meltdown on a global scale, along with its many implications. The financial meltdown and surrounding events covered by Lara now threaten Rick’s life and dream, and only time will reveal the ultimate result. Can these two views of the world reconcile-and save Rick’s dream in the process?

According to the author, this book contains descriptive writing about sexual acts between consenting adults.

The author has rated this book PG-13 (questionable content for children under 13).

Excerpt:

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! You’re live!” the voice shouted.

“Good evening. This is Lara Brown reporting from the headquarters at the United Nations where Wei Ming Zheng, secretary general, will be addressing the General Assembly with a bold new plan to help concretize progress on the Millennium Development Goals.

“As we know, we are considerably past the target date and there is still much ground to cover. While some countries have made considerable progress, others have lagged significantly. Wei Ming Zheng has expressed discontent with—”

Lara put her hand to her ear.

“I am told United Nations Secretary General Wei Ming Zheng is coming out for his speech.” She turned her head and looked to the podium two hundred meters behind her then looked at the camera again. “You can see him back there, near the podium, shaking hands with several heads of state. He is now reaching the podium. I am turning over the feed now so we can see and hear his speech.”

“Over. Put the focus on Wei Ming,” said someone at the control room.

“Good evening. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here-h.” said Wei Ming Zheng in fluent English yet heavy Chinese accent. “Today I want to address the assembly general, and our brothers and sisters in the world. It is an important subject that we need to talk about today.

“Back in twenty-ten-h, the General Assembly committed to the Millennium Development Goals. As we know, these goals were to end extreme poverty, ensure universal education, promote gender equality, ensure health of mothers and their children, combat HIV and AIDS, promote environmental sustainability, and promote global partnership-h.

“Our goal was ensuring progress by twenty-fifteen. Sadly, we are years past that, and we still see nations lagging behind-h. If we think in terms of nations, we usually think of one, two, three or maybe ten countries lagging behind-h. If we think of this problem in terms of population and human lives, we see that we are talking of millions of people.”

Wei Ming Zheng intentionally paused and looked at the audience and then the cameras.

“These millions people suffer hunger, discrimination, no opportunities, and violence because of corruption-h and no responsibility and vision of the few leading their countries. We see-h children being made into soldiers, mothers that can’t feed their children because they can’t afford basic foods, children forced into prostitution, fathers that can’t find a job to give proper shelter and food to their families. We see human lives affected for the worst. We see human potential wasted over, and over, and over.

“The United Nations has been criticized for being too diplomatic. For not taking action. For being too soft. To this I say, it is true-h. Some of our programs have made big, positive impacts in the world, but it has not been enough. We have not been sensitive enough to suffering of our brothers and sisters in the world. We have been a spectator looking out from the window. In every situation, there is always a time for decision and action-h. That time has come. We cannot have the same attitude to the same old problems. We cannot bend over backwards-h in our diplomacy. We cannot turn a blind eye to many of the atrocities happening. It is time to take matters personally, to feel their pain, hunger, and despair as our own. It is time to be firm-h.”

(Applause.)

“I have talked for months with the members of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and Peace Keeping Operations. I have conferred too with many heads of state-h. We have evaluated the problems, impacts, and the positive and negative sides of this plan. We have asked for their commitment. The commitment to own up to our responsibilities as global citizens. I am proud – to say that we have received wide support of these new initiatives.

“Today, I want to announce, in terms of respect of human rights, the United Nations will become a more assertive international body-h. We will take more decisive action with violations of human rights. The nations will draw votes and action. I repeat, action will be taken. From closely working with the government bodies in handling incidents all the way to voting ineffective governments out when a situation reaches unmanageable levels and its population clamors for it. In these extreme circumstances, the United Nations will submit the situation to vote with the different councils and members, provide ample notice to the government in question, and follow a path of escalation-h.

“The United Nations has at its core the appreciation of the different cultures, religions, and faiths our beautiful world has. To make this clear, this is not about imposing one type of values, culture, or faith over another. It is exactly the opposite. It is about protecting the universal rights of the people regardless of their values, culture, or faith-h. It is about letting culture, business, science, knowledge, commerce, and opportunities flourish-h.

“In the same spirit of protecting the rights of the world’s people and giving them freedom that enables them. We conceived and created a framework. A Framework for Growth. It will provide a clear and concise road-map for the developing nations. This plan will help jumpstart their economies, empower their citizens, and strengthen their government bodies for benefit of their population-h.

“This framework will be offered to the countries that want to implement it. We hope many adopt it. It is complex, but this framework can be summarized in the following points:

“One. Respect and reinforcement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-h. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. No one should ever be denied his or her right to freedom, property, and the pursuit of happiness by anyone, any group, or government. As part of the Framework for Growth, the United Nations will offer an easy-to-implement platform. It will allow the different governments to take, follow up, and track any violations. With this platform, we will be able to have true metrics and evaluations.

“Two. Protection of private property-. A solid system that enables protection of private property is very important to the well being of a nation, its economy, and its people. We have taken the best of the countries with the best record in this field and put together a set of laws and requirements that will enable the nations to make solid progress-h. We know making these changes can take time. We have prepared and trained transition teams. We will provide all the advice necessary to those who want to adopt it.

“Three. Road infrastructure. This is a very important factor in the exchange of goods in an economy-h. It offers a platform to grow an economy and a way to strengthen it. Very much like the arteries in a body: the more efficiently they can transfer blood to the limbs, the better they will work. Our plan will offer an easy and sustainable way to build or strengthen road infrastructure-h. We will facilitate contracts with companies, assist through the bidding process, and work to get the cheapest credits possible.

“Four. Communications infrastructure. Mail, telephony, television, radio, and Internet are the most important communication elements. Mail facilitates a way to exchange goods and ideas for people located in different areas. Laws protecting unlawful opening of correspondence-h are paramount to an efficient mail system. Television and radio are important for the dissemination of ideas, commerce, and education. Telephony and, most importantly in this century, Internet, are the real-time methods to communicate-h. The more solid this infrastructure is, the faster people will exchange ideas and disseminate news and knowledge. The UN will facilitate contracts with companies to build or strengthen this infrastructure. We will also assist through the bidding and credit process-h.

“Five. Fighting corruption. Beyond the moral lectures we have already heard, corruption thwarts flow of capital, hinders the law, and heavily slows the realization of growth potential of the people-h. We have put together a plan, process flows, and other tools that rely heavily on the technologies we have at hand. It is not perfect, but we expect this plan to facilitate the different government bodies with the tools to significantly decrease corruption incidents-h.

“Six. Cheap access to credit. Credit, provided and managed in a responsible way, is one of the enablers of entrepreneurship across the world. Good ideas can easily die if they don’t have access to capital and markets. This is important : cheap credit does not equal easy and irresponsible credit. The same as with the previous points, the United Nations has put together, as part of this framework, a plan that will facilitate revamping of the credit system in a country-h. This plan has the best lessons learned from the countries with the most solid credit systems. We expect that adoption of this plan and practices will result in the overall benefit in the economy of a country.

“Seven. Easy access to knowledge-h. The nature of humanity has curiosity at its core. We have to recognize: There are a thousand ways to get to Rome. Access to knowledge fosters critical thinking, opens opportunities for growth, challenges the known truths and, in consequence, brings innovation in all fields-h.

“Along with facilitating contracts and credits to build schools and universities, the United Nations will fund libraries and knowledge centers with money provided by the member countries. There, people will be able to read books and access Internet resources-h. For free, people will be able to read and have access to knowledge in these centers. Some may use it to improve their language skills, others to research their thesis or work, and some others to find the best agricultural methods for their crops.

“As I said, the United Nation’s Framework for Growth is more comprehensive than what I have just outlined. These are some of the most important points to consider-h. The full details of our framework are being published in our website right at this moment.

“To the members of the General Assembly, thank you. To the members of the Security Council, thank you. To the members of the Economic and Social Council and the Peace Keeping Operations, thank you. Thank you all for your service, dedication, and vision in seeing this through. Thank you for your empathy with those in need and for your action in putting this together.

“To the audience and to the public, thank you. We have received much positive feedback and support-h. Thank you for wanting to see a better world not only for those we share a culture and values with, but also for those we share little with, except the most important thing—our humanity.”

Many in the audience stood up from their seats to applaud.

The camera focused on Lara again. She was still looking at Wei Ming Zheng in the podium. She stood like that for a couple of seconds until someone indicated to her she was live.

“What a powerful speech! My apologies for the short lapse. I was caught pondering on what I have just heard.”

Lara regained her composure. “This was definitely a strong call for action. That’’s a long road ahead we are looking at. But if implemented appropriately, this has the potential to positively impact many around the world.”

“Thank you, Lara,” said Kyle Matthews, anchor of the evening news program. “That was an interesting speech. I agree with you. It will be interesting to learn the pros and cons of implementing this framework. Lots to cover.”

“Kyle, thank you. Turning the feed over to you. Have a great evening,” said Lara.

“That was Lara Brown covering the speech by United Nation’s Secretary General Wei Ming Zheng. Definitely a powerful speech. Now, on to more news. Russian president Nicolai Vasilyev declared a freeze in the export of oil to Georgia …”